SHARPENED WITH GOD

I found a picture on instagram that jumped off the page and stuck in my heart.  It was a picture of a sharpened pencil.  Above it was the word “yesterday.”  Underneath it was the word “today” and a picture of a pencil broken in half.  Underneath that was the word “tomorrow” and a picture of the broken pencil with the broken end sharpened.  What a creative idea to remind us the ability for us to be resilient. 

Have you ever felt like a broken pencil?  Your edges are jagged and you are damaged.  You have been shattered, smashed and or mangled.  You can’t continue to write or move through the pages of life.  You ask yourself, “What can I do to be mended? How can I be resilient?”

In Genesis 32, Jacob was that of a broken pencil.  He had to face his brother Esau, whom he had cheated 20 years earlier.  He was nervous, he was scared and he was broken.  What should he do?  His brother was coming with 400 men.  What did Jacob do?  He prayed.  What did the Lord do?  He wrestled with Jacob leaving him limping.  Are you kidding me?  Now Jacob couldn’t even run, he was helpless. 

Exactly what God wanted.  When we are broken God wants to be there to help us.  He wants to be the only one that we turn to.  So what does He do?  He cripples us so that the only choice we have is He.  He wants us to be totally dependent on Him and Him only.  He breaks us of our inherent self-dependence.  He wants to resharpen us for tomorrow. 

If you are like that of a broken pencil, don’t worry or have fear.  God is breaking you of self-dependence so that you are completely dependent on Him to be resharpened.  Turning to Him is not an option; it’s our only reasonable course of action.